Sunday, September 28, 2008

In what's gotten to be a yearly tradition for us here in Tupelo, the 3rd annual Celebration of Cultures was an inspiring day of music, dance, crafts and food from around the world.

It was also an opportunity for Carley to promote her non-profit organization El Centro, and for her to do some networking in the community.

To start the ceremonies, Carley and some of the kids from El Centro's after-school program recited the Pledge of Allegiance in Spanish, while onlookers could read the Spanish version of the Pledge that she had printed on flyers.

A crowd gathered in the shade for the musical entertainment that was to follow.

A mariachi band performed for some traditional Mexican dancing.

The mariachi band stayed on for some fun with the kids, including a rendition of the Chicken Dance.

A local dance troop performed an "Aztec dance", accompanied only by a single drum.

Here in the south, college football is a really big deal. Three of the last five national champion teams are from the Southeast Conference, and the tailgate parties around here are legendary.

On a recent Saturday we made the 45-minute drive to Oxford for an evening game. Carley's alma mater Vanderbilt was in town to face the resurgent Ole Miss Rebels, and Carley's dad had scored us some excellent seats. To the disappointment of most of the crowd, Vanderbilt knocked off Ole Miss by a score of 23-17.

Our good friends Josh and Bonnie joined us for the game. Big thanks to Bonnie for being designated driver!

After the game we strolled past the Gertrude Ford Performing Arts Center, which was already in full splendor for the upcoming presidential debate between Barack Obama and John McCain next week.

New Blogger Layout

Unfortunately the "Blog Archive" feature (above) on Blogger's new layout is totally lame. If you miss the sidebar navigation system we used to have on this blog, go here to see the new and improved version.